Exciting ain't it MS, will let the dust settle and if I go ahead it will be in a couple of months. Still love my Pentax but it is frustrating to find items that will fit or work with it particularly if I can't afford to buy Pentax.

Azz, strangely enough I am not really interested in the video function, will have to read up on the spec and that of other cameras in the range as I don't want to pay for something I am not likely to use if I can get equivalent buying one of the others in the range. We have 3 video cameras and I don't think one attached to a still camera will ever get used unless I was unfortunate enough to find myself in a news worthy situation.

.....and whats wrong with that! ..........

Snapper, im still trying to figure out exactly what your after. Is it something with a long range, so you can get in close or something like a 24-70mm so you get right up to the dogs physically.....

Maybe, if you are going to wait a couple of months there may be some good deals just before Christmas too, or in the Sales

Sorry I am not making myself clear. I like to have a macro for plants etc, a prime about 50mm for general everyday use and portraits. However the one I use at dog shows has to operate a bit like a video camera, in fact at one time that is what I used to take stills with because I did not have a suitable lens.

Some rings are large, say 15 to 20 meters sq. and the dog may well be examined at the corner furthest from you, you need a lens to fill the frame with dog. The dog will then move and you need action shots of that movement it will move around the ring and may come within a couple of meters of you sometimes even closer. I have to remain outside the ring and at the moment I am using a 28 - 300mm on my Pentax that does the job well. I am not too steady on my feet and sometimes my hands do not work that well so I have to use a tripod and moving around to get the shots is not an option.

Sorry that is long but if you have no experience of dog show it must be difficult to understand. At the last show I attended I was stewarding within the ring so no tripod possible, I used my new P80 and was pleasantly surprised with the results.

So you are after a fair quality zoom with some kind of vibration reduction to prevent motion blur?...

That would seem to be what I need, it would also need to be AF. If I go ahead and get the D90 or a similar Nikon what would you suggest?

I woud suggest the 70-300mm AF-S again. Its light, has vibration reduction, and has the range you are after. Its a little soft at the short end (70mm) but it does have nice contrast. It will also be quite weak in performance at the 300mm range of the lens, this is because the lens does have such a long focal range and it is also quite cheap at around £350, but you do get alot for that aswell.

Heres some reading at DPReview http://www.dpreview.com/news/0608/06...-300vrlens.asp

Ill pm you with an address with a dedicated sample shot thread (its a forum so wont post it here)

KK - I honestly think this range is too long. I have taken a lot of photo's at dog shows and whilst I now use a prime (I move around to get the shot I want) it does have limitations. I can not get shots of the dogs if they come too close and this is one of the features the OP is after. I used to use my 28 - 135 which has the required range (I can't say I have seen a ring that requires a lens much longer than this) however I needed more speed, hence the use of my prime.

Does Nikon do anything in the 28 - 200 range with VR (sorry I have a Canon so can not help with Nikon lenses).

Yep - I think I may have already suggested it in this thread... Nikon do a 18-200vr that is very well rated

Have to say in some cases 200mm is not far enough, ok for large dogs but not small, table dogs, you have to crop and lose quality.